Mutual Arrangement
by Tomoe Mami
Summary: Niccy Lancaster enters the Kaiser's base and makes a deal with the boy emperor. Co-written with Mandriel from ffn.


The blonde-haired girl watched from a distance away as the Chosen messed up the Digimon Kaiser's plans once again. Her name was Niccy Lancaster. The girl smirked, watching how they worked as the final pieces of her plan fell into place.

"They won't know what hit them… or their Digimon."

Her outfit reminiscent of a magical girl's clothes, Niccy patted her Lopmon on his head as she strode confidently towards the Kaiser's base which had landed behind a hill. The Lancaster girl was not at all afraid of the Kaiser; no, she viewed him as a tactical rival at present.

Approaching the base, she paused for a moment to take in its size, pondering what the inside of it looked like. Would it be as grand as the outside? If it was, that might very well alter her perception of the Kaiser, but she would have to see. Niccy entered.

Casually striding through the halls of the Kaiser's base, Niccy only had one thought process in her head. _If he's a so-called genius, why doesn't he simply crush the Chosen altogether? He's smart enough to do it, after all. They can't possibly defeat him all of the time, can they?_

The Lancaster girl explored every vacant room, finding herself slowly admiring the Digimon Kaiser's skills in how he built the base. As she approached the last room in what she thought was the fifteenth hallway, she started feeling a dark presence coming from the room. _What's in here, I wonder?_

Entering the room, she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise, but ignored the feeling. Niccy was a tough girl. Whatever the presence was in this room, she was not afraid of it. She saw a swirling black mass of darkness and wondered what it could be.

Lopmon followed her line of sight with narrowed eyes. "What is that thing?"

"My thoughts exactly." She watched as the darkness seemed to reach toward her. A coldness radiated from it, but it wasn't a frozen bite that cracked into her bones. Rather, it felt welcome, like a sip of ice water on a summer day.

With a huff, Lopmon gave her arm a hard tug. "Whatever it is, it's probably not important. Where's that Kaiser? I want to see his face when I gut him like a fish."

It took more effort than she'd have liked to admit to tear her attention away from the darkness, but Lopmon was right; they weren't here to sightsee.

"Where is he, anyway?" Lopmon looked around. "I bet he's run off already. See, I knew he was a coward."

"No, I'm sure he's here," Niccy said. "And I'm sure he knows we're here, too."

"Are you telling me we walked right into an ambush?"

"Not quite yet."

Niccy ignored Lopmon's ensuing frustrated babbling as she strutted across the room, fingertips gliding across the pattern of ones and zeroes carved into the walls. Whatever the darkness was, it had to be important. And no one in their right mind would leave such a thing unattended, without even a trace of security.

Her nails found a groove on the wall, which swung out to reveal a hidden keyboard. A grin split her lips as she began to type.

Lopmon strode to Niccy's side. "I'm sure the Kaiser and his minions are right around the corner by now. I'll be outside if you need me, digivolved and fighting to the death."

Niccy rolled her eyes. "Don't bother, nobody's here yet. But I'm sure the Kaiser will come running once he sees me messing with his stuff."

"You're _trying_ to get him to come kill us?"

"If he killed us, I'd be so disappointed. I expect more from the Kaiser himself."

A red light enveloped the room and the screech of a siren caused Lopmon to clap her paws over her ears. Niccy's calm smile refused to fade as she kept typing. "I've disabled every trap in the base," Niccy explained. "If he wants to get rid of us, he has to come face me."

Lopmon groaned. "Please tell me you have an actual plan."

"Well, now that I have access to the Kaiser's security system, I can turn his traps and toys against him. If you'd like, you can just sit in the corner and let me do all the talking."

"Sure, whatever, that's great. Can you turn the dang alarm off already? I feel like my brain's gonna explode." Niccy switched off the alarm and Lopmon gave a relieved sigh. "Took you long enough. Now, should I digivolve before or after he sics his minions on you?"

Footsteps echoed through the empty halls and Niccy turned to greet the Kaiser himself as he stepped into the doorway. "You know, I never expected an expert programmer such as yourself to do such a garbage job protecting your base."

"I have to say... I'm surprised, Silver Medal," the Kaiser sneered back. "Here I was, thinking you couldn't hack your way out of a cardboard box."

"Oh, you're flattering me far too much. I couldn't have done it without a little help."

"Help from who, your pet bunny?"

Lopmon started to retort, but Niccy cut over her. "No, help from _that_." She indicated toward the darkness. "I had a feeling it was semi-conscious and it turns out it's been studying the codes you've woven into this place. It really sped things up."

The Kaiser was silent for a moment. Then: "Did it speak to you?"

"It was like a telepathic connection. The pulses it gave out provided words in my head. It also said it's tired of providing you with power to the base. It wants out." Niccy spoke in depth about the energy she had had contact with. She had a feeling she knew which Digimon the energy was, but wanted to see if the Kaiser knew the threat the darkness presented.

"Oh? It wants out, does it?" The Kaiser arched an eyebrow, looking at the energy.

Niccy didn't repeat herself, silently watching the Kaiser observe the dark energy. What he did next, however, shocked her.

"Well, too bad. It's not leaving here." The caped and spectacled boy snidely remarked, ignoring the fact that the energy pulsed in anger.

Niccy tilted her head with a knowing smirk. "Big mistake there. It's angry at you now, so I'd apologize to it. It powers your base, after all. It could leave if it wanted to and you'd be in trouble then."

The Kaiser made a scoffing noise. "Please. It's energy. Energy doesn't have emotions."

"What about a bargain then?"

The Kaiser turned to face Niccy, his gaze unreadable. He shrugged. "What kind of bargain?" The boy emperor asked, the slightest hint of interest now in his voice.

Niccy twitched an eyebrow, relishing in her success. "One where we work together to crush the Chosen once and for all. Yeah?"

He was silent for a long moment, as if he was considering her offer. When the silence stretched for what she thought was too long and she was about to give up, he finally answered her.

"You're on. Seems we have a mutual enemy." The Kaiser removed his fancy sunglasses.

"!" Niccy was quite surprised by the turn of events. "Really now? Ken Ichijouji? You're the Kaiser?" _I certainly was not expecting that of all things_.

The Kaiser nodded, replacing his visor over his eyes and putting out his hand. "I am indeed. You and I will be excellent business partners."

Niccy reached out with her own hand and shook his, sealing the deal. On her shoulder, Lopmon burst out into crazed giggles. There was something to be happy about after all the tension there'd been. What fun it would be to hurt the Chosen and their Digimon.

"What's your first plan of action?" The Lancaster girl asked her business partner, looking to him as an equal.

Ken informed her of the new plan he had.

Niecy found she quite liked his new plan. It was one that she approved of fully. It would be unstoppable in its complete and utter rampage, crushing the pesty children forever. They wouldn't have to worry about the Chosen entering the Digital World ever again.

With the beast under their control, they would rule the two worlds together. Now they just had to create their masterpiece. Chimaeramon would be their attack dog. If they chose to, they could even rule other Digital Worlds. No one would stop them. At all. They'd be incredible. Niccy would have to teach Lopmon to evolve on her own, as she was sure her partner wanted to reach her final form sooner rather than later.

"Hey, Lopmon. You want to become Cherubimon soon?" The girl asked her Digimon, patting the little bunny's forehead with one hand.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" The Virus-attributed Child level countered, batting off her human's hand and stared at her. "Of course I do. I want to be the best and most evil."


End file.
